CULLEN- The Secretary and the Soldier (Project Zeus-Olympia Book 2)

CHAPTER 3

She didn’t understand why Vladimir would send her to make contact with a man that his friend claimed was her brother, especially since his friend knew everything about him. The information that Vlad gave her was as good as any investigator’s profile and it made her wonder why the girl wouldn’t approach the man herself, but it wasn’t her job to question, it was her job to do as the client asked, and Nyla King was good at her job. She’d built her private investigating firm out of sheer will and determination, and even though she had only one other investigator working for her and one secretary, her firm was still considered the best. Nyla sighed as she looked up at the huge, glass building that housed Nightshade Security. The job felt like a huge waste of time. She wouldn’t even be taking this job if it weren’t for her friend, Vladimir Brimkov. He asked her to do this, as a

favor to him, and she couldn’t deny him. Not after the man saved her life. So, she’d do what she had to do. After all, the assignment was simple enough. All she had to do was tell this Cullen Nightshade that his sister, Alexia St. James was looking for him and give him her phone number. Nyla shrugged as she entered the building and glanced at the directory. There was one sleepy-eyed security guard sitting at the front desk that came fully alert as she entered. Smoke-glass surrounded her from all sides, blocking out the early morning sun, even as the impressive view of the Arch spread out in front of her.

“Can I help you, Ma’am?” The rough voice pulled her eyes from the view and to his face.

“Yes, I’m looking for the offices of Nightshade Security.” She shot him a friendly grin and watched as some of the suspicion left his eyes.

“Oh, yes Ma’am. It’s located on the top floor.” He responded to her smile in turn as he pushed a clipboard towards her. Nyla quickly scribbled her name and thanked him.

“Of course, he’d be on the top floor.” She muttered under her breath and walked to the elevators, depressing the button and waiting for the car.

Kiara rushed through the door, empty gym bag in tow. She tossed a wave at the guard on the desk and headed towards the elevators. She’d just come from her morning workout and now she had to get in to open the office. Cullen’s schedule was clear for the day, so she knew that he wouldn’t be in. She wished that he’d just take a vacation. Disappear for a few weeks and rejuvenate, because the dreams he was having was taking a toll on him and she hated to see him look so troubled. She brushed a tendril of curling reddish-brown hair away from her face as she approached the elevators and saw a woman standing there, dressed casually in hip-hugging jeans that had seen it’s fair share of washings and a comfortable looking t-shirt in faded yellow that showed just the barest hint of toned stomach. Her hair was cut short and curled delicately, fitting her beautiful bone structure perfectly. Her skin was a smooth, creamy brown and her almond shaped eyes were a deep, dark chocolate.

“Good morning.” Kiara called out politely, noticing a beauty mark by the corner of her mouth, and charming dimples when she smiled.

“Good morning.” Her voice was husky, her accent pure Midwest. “You must be dedicated to fitness to workout this early.” She said, gesturing down to Kiara’s bag.

“Yeah, it gets me going in the morning.” Kiara responded with a laugh and a roll of her eyes. “Please tell me you’re not one of those women that never workout and look supermodel gorgeous, or I’d be inclined to hate you.” Kiara’s comment had the woman laughing out loud as they stepped onto the elevator.

“Well, I don’t workout in a gym, but I’m very physical. My job requires it.”

“Really?” Kiara asked curiously. “What kind of job?” She nearly bit her tongue as the question tumbled out of her mouth. Cullen was always telling her that she was too curious for her own good. “And you don’t have to answer that. Everyone tells me that I have no boundaries.” Kiara watched the dimples touch the woman’s cheeks again as she responded.

“No, I don’t mind you asking. It’s really refreshing, actually, to have someone so

unafraid of asking questions.” Kiara watched as she reached out and pressed the button for the top floor. Her brow rose in interest but she kept quiet as the other woman continued to talk. “I’m a Private Investigator.”

“Oh, wow. Is that fun?” She asked, as the elevator coasted smoothly.

“It has its moments.” She responded honestly, stepping forward as the doors slid open seamlessly. The two women walked in companionable silence as they approached

the same door.

“Oh, great. They’re closed.” Kiara heard the woman mutter under her breath and stepped around her.

“Just opening, actually.” She responded as she removed the keys from the side pocket of her bag and opened the door, turning the light on.

“You work here?” The woman asked in awe, making Kiara laugh. “And you think my job is impressive?”

“Yeah. My job isn’t nearly as fun as yours.” Kiara wrinkled her nose as she headed back.

“Depends on your definition of fun.” The lady turned around in a circle, trying to take in the opulence of her surroundings as Kiara sat her bag down.

“I guess I should get into business mode now, and since we’ve already shared a ride up in the elevator, there’s no reason to change.” Kiara turned and held her hand out.

“Kiara Kane.”

“Nyla King.” The other woman gripped her hand in return.

“So, how can Nightshade Security help you?”

“Well, actually, I was hired by a woman to help locate her brother, Cullen Nightshade.” Nyla walked over to the seat across from the desk and plopped down.

“And who is this woman, exactly?” It was odd that Cullen would be having the dreams again, and then someone would send a private investigator to find him, claiming to be family. What were the odds?

“I’m really not at liberty to discuss that with anyone but Mr. Nightshade.” Nyla tossed her an apologetic look.

“Well, I’m Mr. Nightshade’s personal assistant. Everything goes through me and I can almost guarantee you that he’s not going to contact you or anyone else claiming to be family.” Kiara informed her, waiting for more information. This conversation was getting stranger by the second.

“I understand that, but I need to see him, specifically. Those were the terms given

to me by my client.” Nyla looked at her imploringly. Kiara tilted her head to the side,

consideringly, as she studied the other woman. A week ago, she would have written this visit off as bullshit, but not now. Not since Cullen had been talking in his sleep and looking at her out of haunted eyes everyday. He even banned her from spending the night at his house, and she had to admit, that one hurt.

“I don’t think that’s going to happen.” Kiara stated dryly. There was no way in hell Cullen was going to meet with an investigator. Especially one claiming to have found his family. Like her, being raised in an orphanage left him with some serious abandonment issues.

“Why?”

“Well, Mr. Nightshade travels a great deal and he really don’t like investigators.”

Her tone was unapologetic as she spoke. Nyla swore at that, making Kiara grin. She liked the fact that the woman didn’t get pushy or try to pump her for information. She liked it even more that she had the hard edges and the blunt honesty of a street tough.

“I like you, Nyla, so I’ll try to get him to meet with you, but I can’t make any promises.” She finally responded.

“Hey, that’s good enough for me.” Nyla offered her a relieved smile as she stood to her feet. “I’m going to go so that you can go and change and start your day.” Nyla slid her card across the desk as she stood up.

“It was nice meeting you.”

“Same here.” Kiara responded with a friendly smile and waited for the other woman to leave out before pulling her cell phone from the pocket of her bag and dialing Cullen. No matter how much her instincts were telling her that Nyla could be trusted, she had to tell him what transpired.

“Yeah?” Cullen responded in greeting as he answered his phone. He knew that it was Kiara. Things had been strained between them for the last three days, every since he nearly choked her to death at his house. He knew that he’d hurt her feelings when he told her that she couldn’t stay over any more, but he just didn’t know what else to do. He didn’t know how else to protect her.

“Hey Cullen, I need to speak with you in person.” Her smooth voice was cool and professional, tying his belly in knots. Did she still resent him for his decision?

“Why, what’s up?”

“It’s not exactly something I can discuss over the phone.” Her response had suspicion creeping through him. What the hell could have happened to warrant a face-to-face?

“Close the office and come on over.” He responded, before disconnecting.

Kiara quickly put her phone away and picked up her gym bag as she reached for the card left by the investigator. She rushed to the elevator and down to her car where she made it to Cullen’s house in record speeds.

He watched her as she exited Nightshade Security and he followed her. He would

get a feel for her routine and then he would snatch her. Once he had her, getting Cullen

shouldn’t be too hard, and once he had Cullen, the rest of them would fall into his arms. He pulled out behind Kiara’s car, following her back to Cullen’s house. He knew that he wouldn’t be able to breach Cullen’s security, but all he had to do was get her alone, and then she would be his. His question now was, did he just break into her apartment under the cover of night and take her, or did he insinuate himself into her life, making her trust him? He smiled evilly at the possibilities. If he made her trust him, he’d get more inside secrets and maybe learn more about her to use against Olympia Project ZW-84.

Kiara looked around uneasily as she entered her code into Cullen’s underground garage. She didn’t see anyone but she felt as if she were being watched. As she pulled into the secured lot, she felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand at attention as an innocuous looking black sedan passed casually by. Something was definitely up. Kiara went to the elevator and entered her key code, before pressing for it to take her up to Cullen’s domain. Once she reached his front door, Kiara entered the final code that would release the locks. When she was younger, she used to roll her eyes at all of the security he had in place, but secretly, she always felt safe whenever she slept over at Cullen’s. At first it was out of necessity, and then it had become a habit.

“So, what was so important that you couldn’t tell me over the phone?” Cullen rounded the corner, entering into the expansive family room. This was her favorite room in his home that boasted eight bedrooms and six bathrooms. It was sparsely decorated, like a true bachelor’s pad, with a large, flat screen television mounted on the wall, black leather couches and recliners, and gleaming, hardwood oak floors, polished to perfection. There was an electric fireplace in the opposite corner of the room that just invited you to sink in and stay a while on cold days, and she remembered plenty of days when she’d done just that. Cullen had definitely managed to carve out his own little peace of paradise in University City, Missouri.

“A private investigator stopped by the office this morning. She said that her client was claiming to be your sister and she wanted to leave you a phone number.” Kiara watched Cullen for some type of reaction. When she didn’t get one, she arched her brows at him. “Well?”

“I have to admit that’s a new ploy. No one’s ever used that before to get to me.”

Cullen responded as he sat down on the couch. Kiara sat across from him.

“Yeah, only I don’t think she was an enemy. I think she was serious.” Cullen scoffed at her.

“Come on, Kee-Kee. We both know that I was raised in an orphanage. They never mentioned any siblings in my paperwork.”

“Then who are the children you’re dreaming about?” She challenged, watching doubt cloud his face before it once again went blank.

“They’re just dreams.” He muttered, more to himself than to her.

“Are you sure?” She asked, making him look up at her once again. “You did say that you don’t remember anything before the age of seven. That’s a huge gap in your memory.”

“I’m not sure of anything.” Cullen muttered in frustration, pushing to his feet to pace.

“Well, don’t you think you owe it to yourself to find out?”

At her quiet question, Cullen turned away, without answering. His mind raced in a million different directions. It was true, he had been having dreams about children he’d never met, and he couldn’t account for the first six years of his life, but that didn’t make him want to trust this investigator. She could be working with one of his many enemies.

“I want you to stay away from this so called investigator. She could be an undercover agent working for the government.” He whirled back around to face Kiara with his warning.

“Boy are you paranoid.” She responded with a roll of her eyes.

“Ok. Ok.” She threw her hands up in surrender when he shot her a deadly look.

“I’ll stay away from her, but I’m telling you, Nyla is being honest. I can spot a con from a mile away.” She rose to her feet to head back to the door, nearly giving him a heart attack.

“Where are you going?” His tone was nearly frantic, making her frown in confusion.

“Back to the office.” She responded as if speaking to the dimwitted. “You know,

the place that keeps the bills paid?”

“No. I want you to stay here. At least until I get the chance to check out the investigator.” At least until I can make sure you’re completely safe.

“Wait, I thought that you didn’t want me to stay here anymore. I thought you wanted me to stay away until you figured out what was going on with you.” He hated the fact that he couldn’t explain to her why he was acting so paranoid. Hell, he couldn’t even explain it to himself.

“Let’s just look at this as the Devil you know.”

“The Devil I know? Meaning you?” She rolled her eyes at him again.

“Cullen, just because you hurt me a little while you were sleeping doesn’t make you a Devil.” Her words did very little to sooth him. He knew what lived inside of him, what he had to tame with pills and a strong will. He told her about it, but she never experienced the full extent of the beast within him.

“Besides, I’m safe in my apartment. Security there is topnotch.” Her words had fear coiling in his belly. It was that false sense of security that always led to death.

“Kiara, please.” He turned pleading eyes on her. “Don’t argue with me. Just stay here.”

“Ok.” She caved, before turning away from him and heading to her office in his home. Cullen had felt apprehension tighten his gut the moment Kiara mentioned someone was looking for him. He just couldn’t shake the feeling that something bad was going to happen, and he didn’t know what he’d do if anything happened to Kiara. She called him paranoid, and maybe he was, but he just saw it as being careful. A mercenary such as himself couldn’t afford to take chances. He went into his own office, booting up his computer, so that he could do some digging. Before he was through, he would know everything there was to know about Nyla King.

Nyla returned to her office to call her newest client. She would give her the report that Vlad requested and then she would move on to other cases. She waited patiently through three rings, and was ready to leave a voice message, when a husky, feminine voice answered.

“Hello?”

“Ms. St. James?” Nyla asked, inquiringly.

“Who is this?” There was suspicion in the voice now, making Nyla want to sigh. She should have figured that if the woman knew Vladimir, she’d be somewhat suspicious.

“This is Nyla King of King Investigations. I was hired to find your brother, Cullen Nightshade.” She hoped that her comment would be enough to get her to the person she needed to speak with.

“Hired by whom exactly?” The husky, feminine voice responded back. Nyla could hear the suspicion increase.

“I’m not at liberty to discuss my client’s name with you.” She replied, coolly.

“And I’m not at liberty to divulge my name, Ms. King. Stop wasting my time.”

There was a bite in the voice that Nyla didn’t appreciate. Well, she had one more thing to

use to discover the identity of the person she was talking to.

“Are you Ptichka?” She butchered the Russian word for ‘little bird’ but when there was a long pause on the other end, Nyla figured she’d hit a nerve.

“Vlad.” She heard the other woman mutter darkly, letting her know that she was

on the right track.

“Yeah, this is Alexia St. James.”

“I’ve made contact with Cullen Nightshade’s personal assistant. She claims that he’d never contact anyone claiming to be family.”

“I should have figured.” There was resolve in her voice as she continued on. “Was there anyone else around that seemed to be interested in Cullen? Any cars parked outside watching his building?”

What the hell, Nyla thought? What was she talking about? Her assignment was supposed to be to pass on a number. Now she was supposed to be looking for stalkers. When did the assignment change?

“I didn’t notice anyone, but then again, I wasn’t looking for anything like that, since Vladimir only told me to give Mr. Nightshade your telephone number.” Alexia swore at that, increasing her confusion.

“Well, I’m grateful that Vlad is willing to protect me, but you should have been informed of the danger before you took on the job. What the hell was he thinking, involving another person?” She exploded.

“Well, all I did was make contact with a personal assistant, Ms. St. James. If you want me to back off, I can do that.” Nyla kept her tone professional and cool, a direct contrast to the anger she heard in Alexia’s voice.

“No, you’re in it now. They’ll hurt you just to see what you know. Vlad never should have gotten you involved.” Nyla felt apprehension grip her heart at the words.

Who would hurt her? Why? What kind of information could be so valuable that a person

would be willing to hurt her for it?

“Look, if anyone approaches you about Cullen or starts following you orCullen’s personal assistant, please call back, immediately.” Alex was saying, before she could ask any of her questions out loud.

“I can handle it.” Nyla responded, insulted. Hadn’t she been taking care of herself since she learned to walk?

“No, you can’t.” Alex replied bluntly. “It won’t be your average street thug, or even your average government official. It’ll be a smart, trained, deadly assassin and basic self-defense techniques will be child’s play for them.”

“What do you mean? What the hell is going on?” Nyla demanded.

“More than I can explain to you over the phone. I’m so sorry Vlad involved you in this.” At those quiet words, the dial tone sounded in her ear. What had Vladimir gotten her into? Nyla dialed the number of her dear friend and waited impatiently for him to answer.

“Vlad, I just spoke to Alexia St. James. What the hell is going on?” She responded in greeting as the big man answered the phone.

“What did she tell you?”

“She said that since you didn’t give me the full story, my life is in danger now.”

“Were you followed?” There was worry in that thick Russian accent now, and she could almost see the expression on his handsome face. His piercing blue eyes would glint dangerously at the thought of someone threatening the life of his friend.

“Not that I know of, but I didn’t know to look for a tail. You should have told me, Vlad.”

“Yes, I should have, but it’s not my story to tell. Please, be careful, and if you need me to come, just say the word.”

“I’m fine, Vlad.” Nyla assured him. “For now, I’m fine.”

“Call me if that changes.” He ordered. Usually Nyla didn’t respond well to orders, but she could hear the worry in his tone, and she knew that it took a lot to worry him. She didn’t know, exactly, what Vlad did, but she knew that he was dangerous, and that nothing scared him, so for him to be afraid for her she knew that it had to be bad.

“I’ll do that.” She responded softly, before disconnecting the call. It was time to do a little research of her own. After all, she wasn’t without her own resources. Nyla began her search with her potential client. She searched the name Alexia St. James, and found nothing. No birth certificate, no social security card, no nothing. She frowned in puzzlement. Why would Vlad give her a false name? If Cullen were really her brother, wouldn’t she give her real name so that he’d remember her? Her next search was on Cullen Nightshade. On him, at least, she found public records, business license, credit

cards, and the like. He actually existed, but beyond those few items, there was little else

on him. Her next search was on Kiara Kane, and there was plenty on her. Her story read like an emotional nightmare. Kiara Kristiana Kane was found barely alive on the side of the road, in a smoking car when she was five years old. Her parents had been killed instantly after their car was run off the road by an eighteen-wheeler freight truck. Kiara had been the only survivor. After months of intense physical therapy and counseling, Kiara had been released to the care of the state. After six months in her new foster home, Kiara was in the hospital once more, this time with a broken arm. All the medical reports

stated the break as accidental.

“Accidental my ass.” Nyla muttered. She knew exactly what it was like to be a ward of the state, to have breaks and bruises that you couldn’t explain. Nyla continued reading and she wanted to stand up and cheer when she read of how Kiara disappeared from a crowded hospital one day. There was a missing person’s report filed on her, but very little investigating. Nyla sneered at that as she saved her research and turned off her computer. Her search was bringing too many of her own buried memories to the surface. Nyla pushed away from her desk and went to her workout bag. She began pummeling the bag in hopes of chasing away her own inner demons.